- Rangers ultras sprayed messages about Pope Francis’ death onto a building
- Fans have condemned the messages as ‘disgusting’ and potentially offensive
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Rangers ultras have been blasted for a ‘disgusting’ graffiti message about Pope Francis written hours after his death.
Members of the Union Bears’ group defaced a motorwayside building with two messages after the pontiff’s death aged 88 on Easter Monday.
Pope Francis ‘passed away peacefully’ at 7.35am, according to his doctors, after suffering a cerebral stroke and subsequent heart failure.
Rangers have traditionally been seen as a Protestant, Unionist club, while Celtic were founded by an Irish Catholic.
The Gers reportedly had an unwritten rule that they would not sign any Catholic players between the 1930s and 1970s, though this has been contested.
Mocking Pope Francis’ death, graffiti artists wrote ‘No Pope of Rome’ and ‘Papa Francesco is dead’.
They also painted the wall around the letters in red, blue, and white, the colours of the Ibrox outfit.
The building, just off the M8 and M77 on Glasgow’s MacLellan Street, is regularly used by fans of both Rangers and Celtic for graffiti due to its prominent location.
‘As a Rangers fan this disgusts me,’ wrote one person on X. How many of our own players are we offending here? I have no religious beliefs but I respect those who do. Keep it out of football.’
Another said: ‘Only thing they can celebrate this season is an 88 year old Argentinian man living in Rome dying. Bit depressing.’
One said: ‘Disgraceful, disgusting, and disrespectful.’
Another said: ‘It’s wild that Christians are so anti pope. He’s a man of faith like them. We all praise the same god and aim for the same destiny.’
One simply asked: ‘A club for everyone?’
In 2022, Celtic fans reacted mockingly to the death of Queen Elizabeth as they unveiled anti-monarchy banners prior to a Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk.
They revealed banners which read ‘f*** the crown’ and’Sorry for your loss Michael Fagan’ – a reference to an intruder who found his way into the late Queen’s bedroom at Buckingham Palace 40 years prior.
During a minute’s applause for the Queen against St Mirren, Celtic supporters chanted: ‘If you hate the royal family clap your hands’.
Celtic are set to have bragging rights over Rangers for another season with Brendan Rodgers’ side on course for a domestic Treble.
The Bhoys are 15 points ahead of Rangers with five games to go, have already won the Scottish League Cup, and will face Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final.
However, Rangers have made life difficult at times with two wins in four Old Firm meetings this campaign.
The Gers scored a dominant 3-0 win at Ibrox in January and followed that up with a 3-2 last-gasp win at Celtic Park in March.
The pair will clash for a final time this season on May 4.
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